The U.S. Government has delivered 77 tons of food to 94 social and healthcare institutions across the Kyrgyz Republic as part of the USAID Food for Peace Program. These supplies, valued at over $200,000, will provide 3.9 million vitamin-rich meals to patients with tuberculosis, disadvantaged elderly people, and orphans.

U.S. Ambassador Sheila Gwaltney participated in one of the final food handover ceremonies at Family Medicine Center #8 in Bishkek on July 14. “The Food for Peace Program is essential,” emphasized the head of the Alternative in Narcology Foundation, Viktor Kuznetsov. “Thanks to this food, the most vulnerable patients, particularly those with TB or HIV, or living in hostels and shelters, have access to hot meals. These supplies will be particularly critical in the winter months.”

The Ministry of Labor and Social Development and the Ministry of Health worked with USAID to select recipient institutions that serve the widest range of people with the greatest need. This program works in close collaboration with the USAID Defeat TB project and provides life-saving food supplies to TB patients and their families so that they can complete their long and difficult treatment and achieve full recovery.

Over the past ten years, the U.S. Government, through the USAID Food for Peace Program, has provided over 35 million nutritious meals to Kyrgyzstanis in need. This program is one of the many projects in the Kyrgyz Republic supported by the American people to improve the country’s economy, education, and public health system.